1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to toothbrushes and oral care kits, more specifically, relates to a foldable toothbrush with an integrated toothpaste container and an oral care kit thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
The following is a tabulation of some prior art that presently appears relevant:
U.S. PatentsKind CodeIssue DatePatenteePat. No.8,800,573B2Aug. 12, 2014Stein Hofstad3,734,118May 5, 1973Frances B. Howard4,467,822Aug. 28, 1984Victor C. BlackwellPublication No.20100290829Nov. 18, 2010William McCoy
Tooth brushing is the act of scrubbing teeth with a toothbrush equipped with toothpaste. Usually, a rinse cup is used to hold the water to rinse the toothpaste residual and to clean the toothbrush head after tooth brushing.
Traditionally, a toothbrush, a toothpaste tube/container and a rinse cup are independent. A user must open the toothpaste container, dispense the toothpaste from a tube/container onto the bristles of the toothbrush, close the toothpaste container and set it on the table: a potentially messy and time consuming process. Also, a set of traditional toothbrush, toothpaste tube/container and a rinse cup can take a lot of space in a traveler's bag, which makes tooth brushing inconvenient for travelers and people who need to carry their oral care kit around.
Thereafter, several types of toothbrushes have been designed to incorporate a toothpaste supply in their handle to simplify the dispensing operation. For example, William McCoy (US2010/0290829) discloses a device combining a toothbrush, toothpaste dispenser, and refresh cup cover. However, the device remains the same length as a normal sized toothbrush, which makes it inconvenient for traveling. And its refresh cup is too small to hold enough water for rinsing.
Foldable toothbrushes are designed to enhance the portability of toothbrushes. Stein Hofstad (U.S. Pat. No. 8,800,573 B2) discloses a foldable toothbrush with a razor. However, it lacks an integrated toothpaste container and requires a rinse cup in order for the user to brush his/her teeth, which collectively take the same amount of space as a traditional toothbrush kit in a traveler's bag. Additionally, the razor component is useless for beardless users.
Several foldable toothbrushes have integrated toothpaste designs, but still have many problems to be solved. Frances Howard (U.S. Pat. No. 3,734,118) discloses a foldable toothbrush, which dispenses toothpaste through a discharge slot registering with the brush head when in a completely folded position. The problem is obvious: firstly, it is impossible for the user to know how much toothpaste has been dispensed, which may result in a messy operation. Secondly, as the discharge slot is exposed to the air, the toothpaste dries out quickly and blocks the slot, requiring the user to consistently clean the slot. This process is both time consuming and unhygienic.
Some other foldable toothbrushes with a combined toothpaste dispenser have been proposed. Victor Blackwell (U.S. Pat. No. 4,467,822) discloses a toothbrush device comprising an elongate container for receiving or containing toothpaste. All the disclosed configurations have a piston like toothpaste dispenser, which makes it difficult or impossible to refill the toothpaste, while the manufacturing cost is high. The brush head is directly exposed to the circumstance even in inoperative position, which doesn't satisfy hygienic practices. Also, the lack of a rinse cup in the proposed design makes it inconvenient for travelers to use.